Rail joint



INVENTOR:

c D. BARRETT F iled March so, 1937 I NNQNMN W 1 TNESSES ATTORNEYS.

RAIL JOINT Filed March 30, 1937 v 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 17 "WITNESSES l5 INVENTOR; pzzi v v v WTTORNEYS.

c. b. B)AIIQRETT 2 ,145,913

Charles 17. fiarmifi,

Feb. 7, 1939. DJBARRETT 3 2,1 45;913

.RAIL' JO'INT 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 30, 1937 I I 1 '51 lizl INVENTOR:

- Charles flfiarrett, BY I ATTORNEYS.

NW i g:

v w QQN.

lllll Feb. 7, 1939. c, D, B R ETT 2,145,913 v RAIL JOINT Filed March so, 1937 4 Sfieets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR:

WITNVESSE I Y Y i W I ll'harlzs D Barrett} ,BY .Z/ 4 I I ATTORNEYS.

I l atented Feb; 2'7, 1939 h UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I j j 2,145,913

RAIL JOINT Charles D. Barrett, Altoona, Pa. Application March 30, 1937, Serial No. 133,792

a .7 Claims. (Cl. 238-243) g This invention relates to rail joints; and it has of the joint respectively taken as indicated by the I I we reference more especially to what are ordinarily arrows IVIV, VV, VI-VI, and VII-Vll'. in

known as splice joints for railway track rails. g. I. i With existence or diirerences in the fishing s- VIII and IX are d a ram atic v ws f height of the contiguous ends of adjoining track ne of t sp n bars f he j nt showin th r 5 rail sections due either to inaccuracies of manuon of the jo nt bars under load. facture initially or to wear from use, it is virtu- Figs. X, XI and XII are views correspond t0 ally impossible to draw up joint bar of ordinary Figs. I, II, and III showing an alternative form construction; for attainment of firm and. rigid f y i prov ra k rail j int.

support of .th'e'rail headsat the region of the Fig. XIII is a cross sectional view taken as 10 split. As a consequence,'both lateral and vertical d ated by e a ows XIIIXIII in play is permitted between the rail ends. -Such a d looseness, even thoughsmall at the beginning, Figs. XIV and XV are diagrammatic views corbecomes more and more pronounced in a short r p i to F s. VIII nd I h w h is tim nder the continuous pounding of the wheel reaction of the joint bars of the alternative em- I of moving trains, particularly intracks assigned b ent under load- I I to high speed service, with attendant rapid wear In the form of y i e t Sh W in sboth of th joint bar andth ail I-VILthe contiguous ends of the adjoining track The chief aim of my inv ntion i t overcome rail sections l and 2 are connected by splice bars the above drawbacks with a view towardreducing 3 and 4 whi h v ap t sp 5 a pp s d s the high cost of track maintenance. This deof the rail, and which are drawn into the fishing sideratum I realize in practice as hereinafter sp e of he r l ect ns by a num r o imore fully disclosed-through provision of a splice tudin vp ver ly positi n d hea d 'jointwherein the lower edge of the joint bar at screw bolts 6 wi h as ciated nuts 1 and lock one'side clears the base flange of one of the adwashers 8. The sp e s 3 d 4 y av joining rail sectionsadjacent thespllt and the t al ss s t na nfi u ati n s wn lower edge of the joint bar at the other side in Figs. IVVII t conform With the fishing clears the base flange of the other rail section spaces of the rails, and, in accordance with my adjacent the split, and wherein the bars are otherinvention are made xact un rp r s of h i -wise so configured for capacity to bend-and flex o her wi h h f l w ng distinguishing oharao- I I ,incident to being drawn up so that their upper teristics:

edges are brought into firm engagement with the a bar 4 s formed With an pp medial unders'ides of the rail heads in the region of the bearing 9 which s symmetrical in respect to the split. Thus, in this way, the heads of the contigul itudina ente f t ar, p e d a n s ous rails are aiforded effective rigid support, and I3, l4, a bottom medial bearing '5 which is sub- 35 -the joint fortified against the subsequent developstantlally half as long as the top medial bearing merit of looseness by which its strength and efiiand wholly disposed to one side of the longitudinal ciency is impaired. center of the bar, see Figs. II and III, and with v Another object of my invention is to secure the bottom end bearings l6 and I1 corresponding to 40 'foregoing advantages with joint bars'which are the top end bearings l3, l4, all of said top and 40 j exact duplicates and adapted for use in reversed bottom bearings being sloped to correspond re- "positions relative to each other at opposite sides spectivelywith theunder surfacesof the rail heads of thejoint. H and I2 and the upper surfaces of the rail base Other objects and advantages'will appear from flanges I 8, l 9. With the splice bars 3, 4 arranged the following detailed description of the attached and assembled in the joint as shown, it will be drawings, wherein noted from Fig. II that the bottom medial bear- Fig. I is a view partly lin plan and partly in ing I5 of the bar 3 rests only on the bottom flange plan section of a rail joint conveniently embodyll! of the rail section I immediately adjacent the ing my invention in one form. split 5 to the left of the latter, and, from Fig. III,

Fig. II shows the rail joint of Fig. in side that the bottom medial bearing l5 of the bar 4 elevation. I rests only on the base flange [9 of the rail sec- III is a fragmentary longitudinal section tion 2 immediately adjacent the split to the right {view of the joint takenas indicated by the arrows of the latter. Due to upward ofisets 20, 21 in I IIIIII in Figs. 1 and IV.- the lower edges of the bars 3, 4 and the clearlill; Figs. IV', V, VIanii V-U a e @19 5 sectional views ance thus formed above the base flanges l8, I9 56 of the rail sections 2 and I respectively at opposite sides of the split 5, said bars are free to bend and flex compensatively, i. e., to tortionally bend under the drawing action of the bolts 6, the lateral bending of the bars being facilitated by virtue of the downward offsets 22, 23 and 24 respectively and the resulting clearances intervening the upper medial and end bearings 9 and [3, I4 and the lower medial and end bearings l5 and I6. As a consequence of such bending and flexing of the bars 3, 4, the upper medial bearings 9 are urged into efiective intimate contact with the undersides of the heads ll, l2 of the contiguous rail sections immediately adjacent the split 5 at opposite sides ofvthe latter, irrespective of differences in the fishing height of said sections. It therefore follows that with joint bars 3, 4 constructed after the manner described, not only are the ends of the rail heads ll, I2 of the joining rail sections l, 2 firmly supported and accurately aligned, but the joint fortified against the development of looseness and wear of the bars and the rails incident to the use of the track. Fig. VIII shows that the centroids of pressure for positive bending of one of the joint bars under load are located similarly to those of the'usual form of joint bars. For negative bending'of the bar, see Fig. IX, the pressure on the base near the center will be higher than in ordinary forms of joint bars, but nevertheless full bending moment will obviously be developed in both bars of the joint.

In the alternative form of my rail joint shown in Figs. X-XV, the bars 3a, 4a are identical with the bars 3, 4 of the first described embodiment except for the omission of the bottom end bearings l1 and the substitution therefor of wedges 25. As shown, the wedges 25 are urged-inward by pressure plates 26 under the drawing action of the endmost bolts of the series 6a, see Fig. XIII more particularly. By means of the wedges 215, adjustment can be made for differences in the fishing height of the rail. sections la, 2a at the outer ends of the bars 3a, 4a. From Figs. XIV, XV, it will be seen that the action of the bars of the modified form of my invention under load is exactly thesame as that of the bars of the first form. In order to preclude the necessity for repetitive description, all other features not specifically referred to in connection with Figs. X-XV but having their duplicates in the first described embodiment of my invention, have been identified with the same reference numerals previously. employed to each of which the letter at has been added for the purposes of distinction.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a track joint, integrally formed counterpart joint bars adapted to be placed in reversed relation end for end in the fishing spaces at opposite sides of contiguous rail sections, each joint bar having a top bearing surface for supporting theend portions of the heads of both rail sections across the split of the joint, a bottom bearing to one side of the split for engaging the base flange of one rail section immediately adjacent the split, an upward oifset clearing the base flange of other rail section immediately adjacent the split, and a bearing for engaging the base of the last mentioned rail section spaced from the split onthe side of the bar having the upward offset, so that inaccuracies in the vertical dimensions of the fishing spacesof the two rail sections may be compensated for and both bars drawn uptight into said spaces; and securing means for drawing the bars into the fishing spaces.

bearing to one side of the split for engaging the 7 base flange of one rail section immediately adjacent the split, an upward offset clearing the base flange of the other rail section immediately adjacent the split, top bearings at opposite ends for 'engaging the heads of the respective rail sections, and a bottom bearing at the end of the portion on the side having the upward ofiset for engaging the base flange of the corresponding rail section, so that inaccuracies in the vertical dimensions of the fishing spaces of the two rail sections may be compensated for and both bars drawn up tight into said spaces;and securing means for drawing the bars into the fishing spaces.

3. In a track joint, integrally formed counterpart joint 'bars adapted to be placed in reversed relation end for end'in the fishing spaces at opposite sides of contiguous rail sections, each joint bar having a top bearing surface for supporting the end portions of the heads of both rail sections across the split of the joint, a medial bottom bearing to one side of the split for engaging the base flange of one rail section immediately adjacent the split, an upward ofiset clearing the base flange of the other rail section immediately adjacent the split, and bottom'bearings at opposite ends for engaging the base flanges of the respective rail sections, so that inaccuracies in the vertical dimensions of the fishing spaces of the two rail sections may be compensatedfor and both bars drawn up tight into said spaces; and a securing means for drawing bars into the fishing spaces. I

4. In a track joint, integrally-formed counterpart joint bars adapted to be placed in reversed relation end for end in the fishing spaces at opposite sides of contiguous rail sections, each joint bar having a medial top bearing for supporting the end portions of the heads of the rail sections across the split of the joint, a medial bottom bearing to one side of the split for engaging the basefiange of one rail section immediately adjacent the split, an upward offset clearing the base flange of the other rail section immediately adjacent the split, and top and bottom bearings at opposite ends 'for respectively engaging the heads and the base flanges of the two rail sections, so that inaccuracies in the vertical dimensions of the fishing spaces of the two rail sections may be compensated for and both bars drawn up tight into said spaces, and securing means for drawing the bars into the fishing spaces.

5. In atrack joint, integrally-formed counterpart joint bars adapted to be placed in reversed relation end for end in the fishing spaces at opposite sides of contiguous rail sections, each joint bar having a medial top bearing for supporting the end portions of the heads'of the rail sections across the split of the joint, a medial bottom bearing to one side of the split for engaging the bottom bearing; a wedge for engaging between the end of the portion having the upward ofiset and the flange of the corresponding rail section; securing means for drawing the two bars up tight into the fishing'spaces; and separate secur-' ing means for drawing the wedges.

'6. A track joint according to claim 1, in which the securing means comprises a plurality of iongitudinally spaced draw bolts which pass through registering openings in the joint bars and in the webs of the rail sections.

'7 An integrally formed joint bar for track joints having top and bottom bearing surfaces respectively at each end, a top medial bearing surface symmetrically disposed in respect to the transverse central plane of the bar, a bottom medial bearing surface offset to one side of the transverse plane, and upward clearance recessions in the longitudinal intervals between the bottom end bearings and the bottom medial bear- CHARLES D. BARRETT. 

